CLUELESS
A film review by Eric Grossman
Copyright 1995 LOS ANGELES INDEPENDENT
There really isn't much to say about CLUELESS except that its title pretty much explains it all. Alicia Silverstone plays Cher, Beverly Hills High's most popular "betty." Cher realizes that her life is without meaning and she tries to find fulfillment by using her popularity to help others. She takes the new girl in town, Tai (Brittany Murphy), under her wing and helps her avoid falling in with the "loadies" (stoners) and gives her a makeover so she won't be a "monet" (a girl who looks fine from far away but is really a mess up close). She also gets her two teachers to "hang" with each other so that they will raise her grades. In addition to of this altruism, Cher has classes to attend, driving tests to take, and shopping malls to frequent.
Amy Heckerling wrote and directed this movie so I guess we have to give her the lion's share of credit for the movie's great contributions to the English language (although some of it is like so 1980's you know) as well as the film's completely inane plot. Unlike FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, (which was also directed by Heckerling but written by Cameron Crowe) CLUELESS is devoid of any sense of underlying truth. The situations feel about as real as a bad sit-com and the characters, except for Silverstone and Paul Rudd who plays her ex-step brother Josh, are about as dimensional as a piece of cardboard. This movie is a satire of an already satirical image of rich brats from Beverly Hills and one gets the feeling that Heckerling researched her script by watching BEVERLY HILLS: 90210.
While I was watching this movie, I was fortunate enough, or unfortunate enough, to have a running commentary by a group of young high school girls sitting behind me. Although I didn't really care for the film, save a few good lines of dialogue such as Cher's dad telling her date to bring her home safely because he has "a .45 [pistol] and a shovel," the vociferous high school barometers sitting behind me seemed to enjoy CLUELESS quite a bit. However, one girl did complain that Silverstone's thighs were fat and the girl next to her thought the actress was too flat chested. Everyone's a critic these days.
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